Images: Hertfordshire Constabulary
A construction worker has been charged with causing criminal damage after allegedly destroying a number of newly built homes with an excavator.
Police were called to McCarthy & Stone’s Royal Gardens site off Ermine Street in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, on Saturday evening at around 1740.
The man was arrested after five houses among the collection of 25 two- and three-bedroom bungalows for people aged over 55 were destroyed. A total of 16 of the homes are thought to have been sold already, with occupants due to move in shortly.
Daniel Neagu, 30, from Athelstone Road in Harrow, who is believed to have been working as a subcontractor for McCarthy & Stone, has been charged with criminal damage and remanded into custody to appear before Hatfield Magistrates’ Court this morning.
Some reports have suggested that his actions related to a dispute over payment.
A spokesperson for McCarthy & Stone said: "Following an incident at our Buntingford site on Saturday, our response team has been on-site and we can confirm that five newly built bungalows have been damaged. We are now awaiting a structural engineer’s report, so we can plan the work required to repair or rebuild these properties.
"The five properties were all unoccupied at the time, with homeowners set to move in in the coming weeks. We are absolutely devastated for the purchasers affected and our priority is to continue to stay in close contact with them and their families, and to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.
"We will also continue to assist the police with their enquiries and we can confirm that the individual who has been charged is not an employee of McCarthy & Stone."
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